Spoiler History: Starting from the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 797 Sima Yi is fully responsible

[In fact, just from the time alone, I could tell something was wrong.

Li Shanchang was persuaded in August, and Hu Weiyong was beheaded in January of the following year. The timing was a bit too tense.

In the case of Wang Guangyang who died with his concubine and was found to be a confiscated woman, some people have also done research and found that Hu Weiyong was implicated in this matter and was imprisoned in September. That means he and Li Shanchang only had one month to conspire for rebellion, which is even more compact.

Lin Xian'an also said that this person left Ningbo in the ninth year of Hongwu to prepare for the backup plan, so the timing does not match at all.

Besides, considering Li Shanchang's position, it was too unrealistic to want to impress him with a mere King of Huaixi. Basically, from the timing to the motive, everything was unreasonable.

In addition, another case that was used as evidence of Li Shanchang's treason was the Feng Ji case, or the treason case which was a branch of the Hu Weiyong case.

The general framework of this case of collusion with the enemy is relatively simple: Hu Weiyong sent a man named Feng Ji to the Northern Yuan Dynasty to deliver a letter, hoping that they could rebel against the Ming Dynasty together. As a result, Hu Weiyong died too soon. Later, after the Battle of Buir Lake, Lan Yu captured Feng Ji, but Li Shanchang hid him. However, the incident was later discovered, which triggered another wave of earthquake in the officialdom.

The reason why it is called a framework is that the details recorded in Ming History, Veritable Records, Records of Exposing Traitors, National History Examination, Biographies of Founding Ministers, etc. are actually different for each person.

For example, there are two theories about Feng Ji's origin: he was from Henan and he was from Changzhou. As for his identity, some say he was a prisoner in the capital, and some say he was a minister of the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

As for how he curryed favor with Hu Weiyong and sent the letter back to the Northern Yuan Dynasty, each book has a different account.

For this reason, most scholars believe that the credibility of Hu Weiyong's case of collusion with the enemy is not high, and that Li Shanchang, who was implicated in the case, probably had nothing to do with the matter.

In addition, the fact that Hu Weiyong colluded with the Japanese and the Japanese is not credible is also related to the "Hu Weiyong Great Universe" at the end of the Hongwu period:
It is recorded in the Veritable Records that in the 30th year of Hongwu, an official of the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty said that Hu Weiyong was plotting rebellion and colluding with Srivijaya. Srivijaya was a kingdom whose influence spread throughout the entire Malay Archipelago during its heyday.

Records from the fifth year of the Yongle reign also said that Hu Weiyong had an affair with Bu Chongjier, a country in the Western Regions that had trade relations with the Ming Dynasty.

Later, someone recorded that in the 17th year of Hongwu, Emperor Hongwu still investigated the matter of the Goryeo envoy having an affair with Hu Weiyong.

Looking back, Hu Weiyong was connected to all corners of the Ming Dynasty, and he can be said to be the number one diplomatic expert in the early Ming Dynasty.

It’s a pity that Hu Weiyong didn’t go to the West to borrow some elite troops from the Ottoman Empire, otherwise who knows what the Age of Discovery would be like.

This is of course a joke, but at least from so many conflicting or possibly untrue records, it is indeed hard to believe that Li Shanchang was an accomplice of Hu Weiyong in his rebellion.

Regarding the cause of Li Shanchang's death, the most common explanation at present can be explained in one sentence: Sima Yi is fully responsible.

But besides this, it is obviously a bit unfair to say that Li Shanchang was plotting a rebellion. But if we say that Li Shanchang died unjustly without any guilt, that is certainly not necessarily true.

In the Huagai Palace, Li Shanchang's mood could be described as ups and downs.

When he heard later generations narrate step by step the omissions in historical records and infer from them that Li Shanchang did not participate in the rebellion, he almost felt like he had survived a disaster.

Even when he heard later generations say in a teasing tone that Hu Weiyong had secret connections with several countries, he could still laugh along.

As for the reason why "Sima Yi was fully responsible" was summarized by later generations, Li Shanchang understood the meaning of it almost as if he had suddenly realized it.

At this moment, he had already prepared a long speech to protest his injustice, and had also drafted one promise after another to resign, return home and enjoy his retirement.

He even quickly reviewed the life stories of Changsun Wuji, Zhao Pu and others in his mind. He even wanted to write on the light curtain like His Majesty did, so that he could communicate with Changsun Wuji and seek trust from His Majesty about his grievances. With this light curtain, Changsun Wuji should have known what happened after his death, but he didn't know whether he was still with Emperor Taizong of Tang.

However, these thoughts, whether serious or divergent, were quickly shattered by the unexpected turns of words on the light curtain.

He had just given hope but it was crushed again. This feeling was almost crazy, making him want to jump up and curse, and question what the light curtain meant by "not necessarily wronged"?
But when he thought about the things Hu Weiyong said when he entered his house when he was alive, he was silent. Rebellion is certainly not tolerated by Your Majesty, but can these things really be tolerated? Is the iron certificate of immunity from death really useful?

The words "the final right of interpretation belongs to the organizer" also came back to his mind, and at this moment he understood the meaning of this sentence more clearly than ever before:

Whether one can be spared from death does not depend on the guilt, the promise written in the iron certificate, or the crimes listed in the iron list.

It all depends on your Majesty's words.

"Sir, do you have anything else to tell me?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked calm. He didn't say anything harsh or appeal to emotion. He just spoke simply, as if asking what he had eaten this morning.

But Li Shanchang did not dare to take this question lightly. He struggled and hesitated for a moment, but finally raised his head and glanced at the light curtain, and said:
"I also knew that my brother and Hu Weiyong were secretly colluding, but I did not report this to Your Majesty at the time, which is my fault."

Li Wenzhong heard it clearly. This voice was much weaker than the one he heard in the morning, but it seemed to have a more calm and contented tone.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not comment. He was silent for a while, then nodded and waved his hands without saying a word.

……

In Yecheng, Liu Xie couldn't help but feel a little curious when he heard this:
"Uncle, where is Sima Yi now?"

Liu Bei touched his nose and felt a little guilty when he heard this:
"After I captured this man, he surrendered to me and wanted to serve me."

"Later, Sima's son followed General Wu Yi to pacify Nanzhong, opened up Yunnan Prefecture, and also conquered the Southwest Yi Road, which was a great achievement."

"Because of his talent for civil administration and his knowledge of Yunnan affairs, he was appointed as the governor of the county to educate the area."

Liu Xie nodded and said sincerely:
"General Wu Yi has made great contributions to the expansion of Han territory."

"Sima Yi traveled to the south to defend the border and spread the teachings of the sage, which can also be regarded as a good story of the Sima family."

This officially determined the nature of the situation. Obviously, Sima Yi would find it difficult to return before Yunnan County was educated.

And at the end of this month, the civil and military officials were having a pleasant conversation by the warm fire.

Sima Yi, whose cheeks were tanned red, leaned on his back with his hands to rest on the awning. Under the protection of a team of Han guards, he listened to the native leader chattering about the tribe in the distance that had attacked the county governor and looted supplies.

Then the famous scholar from Hanoi lifted up his robe, which was almost torn into strips, revealing the animal skin leggings on his thighs. He then drew out his sword, which was missing the jade and inlaid with animal teeth, and shouted:

"Those who are unjust are called thieves. Now I will punish them with the will of heaven!"

However, these words made the native leader in front of him look confused, so Sima Yi could only knock the shield of the Han guard beside him with his sword and pointed forward:

"kill!"

Hearing the natives shouting and rushing towards the fort, Sima Yi suddenly felt a little heroic:

After Yunnan is conquered, why can't this achievement be used to put Liu Huangshu on the side? If Liu Huangshu wants to enter the Central Plains and defeat Prime Minister Cao in the future, Sima Yi in Henei should be his support, right?

I can expand borders, offer advice, and plan to stabilize the country. How can I, Sima Yi, not go down in history?
(End of this chapter)